Phoenix arm begins deployment
Posted: Thu, May 29, 2008, 5:47 AM ET (0947 GMT)
The robotic arm on NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander began its deployment on Wednesday after project engineers worked around a communications glitch that temporarily slowed the checkout of the lander. Engineers issued commands on Wednesday to begin the deployment of the arm, a two-day process, and expected to receive images on Thursday confirming the arm had started to move from its stowed position on the lander's deck. The arm will eventually be used to dig into the soil around the landing site, scooping up material to be analyzed by instruments on the lander. The mission is using the UHF link on the Mars Odyssey spacecraft as its primary relay for communicating with the lander after a similar radio on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter malfunctioned earlier in the week.
The robotic arm on NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander began its deployment on Wednesday after project engineers worked around a communications glitch that temporarily slowed the checkout of the lander. Engineers issued commands on Wednesday to begin the deployment of the arm, a two-day process, and expected to receive images on Thursday confirming the arm had started to move from its stowed position on the lander's deck. The arm will eventually be used to dig into the soil around the landing site, scooping up material to be analyzed by instruments on the lander. The mission is using the UHF link on the Mars Odyssey spacecraft as its primary relay for communicating with the lander after a similar radio on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter malfunctioned earlier in the week.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
NASA to launch Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope in September
Posted: Sat, Apr 25 10:54 AM ET (1454 GMT) |
|
news links
|
|
Sunday, April 26
OCCAM Space and The Exploration Company Partner on Separation System for Nyx Capsule
Occam Space — 11:55 am ET (1555 GMT) New simulations reveal the cold, dusty reality of galaxy formation
Netherlands Research School for Astronomy — 11:55 am ET (1555 GMT) MDA Space unveils space control platform MDA Midnight™, designed to defend and protect the space domain
PR Newswire — 11:54 am ET (1554 GMT) Voyager Unlocks Satellite Propulsion Production at Scale
Voyager Space — 11:53 am ET (1553 GMT) Sceye Completes Historic 12-Day, 6,400 Mile Stratospheric Flight, Advancing a New Layer of Infrastructure for Humanity
PR Newswire — 11:51 am ET (1551 GMT) |
